Military to Doctor

[bc3699]

Alright, I have wanted to become a Marine for the past 5 years. I also want to become a doctor (EM). I am really anxious about becoming a doctor and can't wait. But I also wanna be a Marine. Do you think it would work if I graduated from high school, then did 4 years in the Marines, and then started pre med? Do you think being in the military would help or hurt my application into med school. Do you think it would be hard being 28 going into med school as a veteran? Military medicine isn't an option. I wanna be an infantry Marine and then start college. I am an Eagle Scout, I volunteer at the fire company, and am planning on getting my EMT this summer. Will these help my chances at getting in?
Thank you!

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[ndafife]

Military Generally helps your application, based off of the leadership and other skills you would gain in service.

 

[darknecrosforte]

Jlh19 is an infantry Marine/current-EMT applying right now. Maybe PM that guy. I was a 2844/41 (radio tech) so I was more on the "nerdy side". But the USMC affiliation is a lot less common for med school. It definitely carries a lot of weight in the leadership/altruism area unless you come across as a psychopath murderer like many of my Texan colleagues did/do. You will definitely be prepared for long days and boredom/repetition and getting told to do lots of random things so that will help a lot in med school.

So yes, it can easily help a lot and don't worry about starting "late". Worry about completing your non-medical-slave-related bucket list items before you apply. And try to get stationed in Okinawa if you can, that place is awesome.

 

[bc3699]

Jlh19 is an infantry Marine/current-EMT applying right now. Maybe PM that guy. I was a 2844/41 (radio tech) so I was more on the "nerdy side". But the USMC affiliation is a lot less common for med school. It definitely carries a lot of weight in the leadership/altruism area unless you come across as a psychopath murderer like many of my Texan colleagues did/do. You will definitely be prepared for long days and boredom/repetition and getting told to do lots of random things so that will help a lot in med school.

So yes, it can easily help a lot and don't worry about starting "late". Worry about completing your non-medical-slave-related bucket list items before you apply. And try to get stationed in Okinawa if you can, that place is awesome.

Thank you for your service sir. Very appreciated

 

[drdking]

I joined the Navy after high school and served for almost 10 years working on submarine nuclear reactors. I made the decision to leave the service and go to college for a degree in athletic training (huge sports fan). I realized during my time in the training rooms that what I really wanted to be was a doctor. I changed into a dual kinesiology and biology major and just accepted an offer at a MD program (TCMC).

So to answer you question, yes you defiantly can spend a few years in the military and then become a doctor even if what you do has nothing to do with medicine. It will almost certainly boost your eventual application. Does it make it easier? I wouldn't say so, it helps you stand out in a crowd, but still takes lots of hard work, good grades, MCAT, and post military experiences.

 

[grapp]

@jlh19

 

[grapp]

Jlh19 is an infantry Marine/current-EMT applying right now. Maybe PM that guy. I was a 2844/41 (radio tech) so I was more on the "nerdy side". But the USMC affiliation is a lot less common for med school. It definitely carries a lot of weight in the leadership/altruism area unless you come across as a psychopath murderer like many of my Texan colleagues did/do. You will definitely be prepared for long days and boredom/repetition and getting told to do lots of random things so that will help a lot in med school.

So yes, it can easily help a lot and don't worry about starting "late". Worry about completing your non-medical-slave-related bucket list items before you apply. And try to get stationed in Okinawa if you can, that place is awesome.

Added him to the conversation.

 

[jlh19]

Bc3699 feel free to pm me if you want. While there is a great benefit to your medical school application from serving in the military, make sure that you don't just enlist for that fact alone. If you're not all in to the enlist then I'd recommend not doing so because you'll be miserable... Especially in the Marine Corps infantry where stuff gets dumb real quick. I honestly feel I'm very prepared to enter into medical school (hopefully) at age 29 and don't think starting a little later than other people is a big deal. Like I said before, feel free to pm me with anything you want to ask

 

[darknecrosforte]

Forgot to address your planned timeline and GI Bill stuff. If you are 18-19 right now, you will be 22-24 when you get out. You should be applying to universities while on active duty and then considering whether to use the GI Bill for med school or university. MOST veterans finish a 4 year degree in 3 because we don't take summers off because of that GI Bill, vocational rehab, or Texan state aid, etc. Therefore you will most likely be 25-27 unless you're terrible at time management and can't shadow, volunteer, do research, etc. in those 3 years. In that case, maybe this was a terrible plan.

Now there are several forks in the road that depend on how things play out for you. I entered service to get over a bad breakup/"find myself" and already liked repetitive, inane stuff like digging deep holes at the beach and staring off into space. Knowing little of the Marine Corps because Los Angeles folk are generally sheltered to real life, I chose a "safe" specialty and was lucky that being a radio systems diagnostician is similar to working in a hospital, except your patients are outdated technology with abusive parents (radio operators). There were close similarities to inpatient/outpatient stuff, transitioning from paper records to electronic records, bureaucracy, waiting on new fiscal years for funding... very unexpected, but I treated it like a game. Infantry is pretty different and you have to already have a tolerance for some of the BS if you want to be able to have 4 honorable years and not hate human existence at the end. I've seen many a jolly, functional civilian-like person turn into a cynical hermit with anger problems in a single PCS move.

And then do you use the GI Bill for med school or undergrad... In my case, I didn't know for sure I wanted to do medicine until end of junior year of college. It helped to not have to work while doing school BUT financially, the GI Bill is much much higher yield being used for medical school. If you can figure out how to pay for undergrad without tapping into the GI Bill or loans, you will be golden.

 

[grapp]

The military is full of leadership positions OP, I saw another guys experience and said he won a leadership related award for heroic actions on a deployment. I'm not saying you have to go that far but it definitely shows some courage, bravery, and dedication. Enlisting all in itself is a bump. Good luck, but like the other guys said make sure you have other reasons than med school (sounds like you do.) best of luck!

 

[CyrilFiggis]

Do you think it would be hard being 28 going into med school as a veteran?

Not at all. Average age of a med student is 24, so you're not that far off. I matriculated at 30. In fact, you'll probably be in better shape than most. With your GI money, you should be debt free after undergrad.

Military medicine isn't an option.

Why not military medicine? I assume you don't want to be career military? Granted this is a decision you will be making 10 years from now and your thoughts are bound to change and evolve, but don't discount it now. There are three great options for military medicine, but I only have experience with one.

USUHS - Uniformed Services University of Health Science - It's the military's medical school outside of DC. It's a great school with probably the best/advanced/coolest simulation center in the country. Through school you'll be rated as O-1 with full active duty pay + COLA (if you were enlisted for 5 years, that will be added into your active duty pay scale). When you graduate you'll be promoted to O-3 and then O-4 after residency. You'll owe back 7 years of service going this route. With your 5 years after HS, 4 year residency (taking the average here), and 7 year commitment, you'll only be 4 years away from retirement (time at USUHS doesn't count towards retirement, but does towards pay grade). That means by 48, able to work as a civilian doc for the next 15-20 years, with zero student debt, and be collecting military retirement pay at the same time. Not to mention, if you're Marines, that technically puts you under the Navy as a Medical Officer. Besides line officers, you're the highest ranking officers if you're in country or with the fleet.

I was accepted to USUHS and personally would have matriculated, but my wife, despite the financial benefit, was opposed to the time away from family the service would require.

So for right now, if you want to enter the Corps, I would say do it. It def. isn't a negative and will only help you focus your future career aspirations. Semper Fi.

 

[randomguy123456]

Alright, I have wanted to become a Marine for the past 5 years. I also want to become a doctor (EM). I am really anxious about becoming a doctor and can't wait. But I also wanna be a Marine. Do you think it would work if I graduated from high school, then did 4 years in the Marines, and then started pre med? Do you think being in the military would help or hurt my application into med school. Do you think it would be hard being 28 going into med school as a veteran? Military medicine isn't an option. I wanna be an infantry Marine and then start college. I am an Eagle Scout, I volunteer at the fire company, and am planning on getting my EMT this summer. Will these help my chances at getting in?
Thank you!

Look at this forum: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/college-military-then-med-school.802837/

Cheers.